Dancing for the joy of just being alive in ''War Dance.'' Courtesy photo

By Bob Polunsky
Movie Critic

“War Dance” is about world events, world apathy and worldwide fear, so it’s not your usual documentary.

Kids in Africa are the main characters, and they are dying by the hundreds in Uganda. It’s like they were in a war zone, and, actually, they are. They live – or lived, for the most part – in Uganda where revolutions take place as often as rainfall.

Documentary filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix found Ugandan teenagers at risk in that part of the world.  Twenty years of war had taken their toll on Ugandan families as well as orphaned children in refugee camps, meaning the children lacked the conveniences we have in America. Homes with running water, electricity, heating, air conditioning and neighbors eager to help one another were practically non-existent.

These kids, their friends and what’s left of their families suffer war-like atrocities that we think only happen in movies. Brutality and genocide are movie terms, not movie scenes.  Moviegoers are affected by the war action reported around the world along with consistent warnings that they could happen here.

The prospect of fear doesn’t stop typical youthful energy and ambition from influencing – even taking over – youthful behavior, and it doesn’t just happen in the U.S.

Like teenagers in America, the people of Uganda celebrate their culture with a national music fair in the Ugandan capital. Teens from all over their war torn country meet to compete for musical honors.  It’s like a competition event held elsewhere in the world, but it happens in the middle of war torn Uganda, and Ugandan teens are eager to take part.

“War Dance” was Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary feature and deserved that attention. The participants had the guts to remind the rest of the world that Ugandan people may have a tough time growing up, but that doesn’t stop them from enjoying as much of it as they can. That means, simply, by staying alive.

Each and every one of the Ugandan teenagers participating in well-organized recreational activities deserves recognition.  Not just for their musical abilities but also for their guts.  They are determined to enjoy life as much as they can. Not only by appearing and performing at the Musical Fair in the Ugandan capital of Kampala but also for their attitude toward life.

It’s a good feeling to know that teenagers all over the world can be just like teenagers here at home. Ugandan teens may not have the riches, privileges and comforts Americans enjoy. But, thankfully, they know how to enjoy what they have, and “War Dance” pictures it in vibrant detail.

You will walk out of the theater tapping your feet and smiling, and you can’t always do that when you walk out of an American theater showing American musicals these days.  
 
Studio rating: PG-13 because of war atrocities
Bob says: “It makes you grateful to be alive”
3 1/2 Stars